How risky is funding one lawsuit?

Very concentrated. A single case usually ends in a settlement, a judgment, or nothing, so the funder's return is close to binary, and the timing depends on one court's calendar. If a case with a 65% chance of a 3.0x outcome loses, the investment is gone; the expected value of 1.95x is never received by anyone who holds only that case.

How common is single-case funding?

Common, though portfolio deals have grown. Among three commercial funders GAO collected data from, portfolio agreements rose from about 19% of new agreements in 2017 to about 39% in 2021, so single-case deals were still the majority. Burford reported single-case capital provision assets of $819.5 million against $3,383.3 million in portfolio assets at December 31, 2025.

How large are single-case deals?

Usually millions. GAO found three commercial funders deployed about $2.3 million per single-case agreement on average from 2017 to 2021. Legalist, per AltStreet's review, funds cases from $50,000 to $5 million; Burford's guide sets a minimum of about $5 million needed by the client.

Can one case dominate a funder?

Yes. Burford's YPF-related assets, two claims arising from one dispute, were about 46% of the fair value of its capital provision assets at December 31, 2025. After the Second Circuit reversed the $16.1 billion judgment on March 27, 2026, their consolidated fair value fell to $145.9 million at September 30, 2026, and capital provision assets fell from $5.61 billion to $3.34 billion over nine months.

Do large single investments perform differently?

They can. Omni Bridgeway reports 2.4x gross on completed investments excluding the 12 over A$20 million, which returned 1.54x, per AltStreet's review. Including them, the company gives 2.3x. A track record that leaves out the largest cases can overstate what a concentrated position would have earned.

How can an investor get single-case exposure?

Mainly through platforms that offered case-by-case vehicles. LexShares sold 'indirect investments in legal claims offered through single purpose pooled investment funds,' per its site footer quoted in AltStreet's review, before entering harvest mode in August 2024. Most current access is through diversified funds or listed funders.

Single-Case Funding

Litigation Finance & Legal Claims

Definition

Single-case funding is litigation finance tied to one claim: the funder provides capital for that case in exchange for a share of its recovery, and is repaid only if that case succeeds. GAO describes single-case agreements as 'typically made between a funder and a corporate plaintiff who exchanges a portion of the value of an individual case for funding.'

Why it matters

Single-case funding is where litigation finance's risk is most visible: one ruling decides the investment. That can be underwritten when the merits are strong and the damages and collection paths are clear, but no amount of diligence removes the chance of a total loss in one case. Burford's YPF assets show that even a funder with hundreds of matters can be dominated by one dispute, and that a favorable judgment can still be reversed years later. Size any single-case position as a binary bet. And when reading a funder's record, check how the largest cases performed separately from the rest.

Common misconceptions

•A strong case is not a safe investment, because even a high win probability leaves a meaningful chance of losing the entire amount in one outcome.
•Expected value is not what a single-case investor receives, because the investor gets either the win payout or nothing, not the average.
•A trial win does not end the risk, because appeals can reverse a judgment, as the Second Circuit did with the $16.1 billion YPF judgment in March 2026.
•Many matters do not guarantee diversification, because one dispute can still dominate value, as YPF did at 46% of Burford's capital provision assets.
•Track records that exclude large cases are not neutral, because Omni Bridgeway's 12 largest completed investments returned 1.54x against 2.4x for the rest.

Technical details

Worked example (illustrative): one case vs twenty

One case: invest $1.0 million; 65% chance of 3.0x, 35% chance of zero.

Expected value 1.95x, but a 35% chance of losing everything.

Twenty independent cases of $50,000 on the same odds: the book loses money only if six or fewer win, a probability of about 0.15%.

If all twenty depend on the same legal theory or the same defendant, the outcomes move together and the chance of a large loss moves back toward the single-case 35%.

What drives a single-case outcome

Merits: liability theory, evidence and defenses.

Damages: what the court will award, not what is claimed.

Procedure: motions, trial, appeal and remand.

Collection: the defendant's ability and willingness to pay, and enforcement where it will not.

Time: each stage adds months or years, which lowers the annualized return even when the case wins.

What AltStreet's reviews and filings show

Burford 2025 10-K: single-case capital provision assets $819.5 million, portfolio $3,383.3 million (December 31, 2025).

Burford's YPF-related assets rested on a $16.1 billion judgment against Argentina entered September 15, 2023; the Second Circuit reversed it on March 27, 2026, and the assets' consolidated fair value fell from $2.6 billion at December 31, 2025 to $145.9 million at September 30, 2026.

Burford 2025 10-K: one 2024-vintage matter resolved within eight months for a 40% IRR but only a 25% ROIC, showing how speed and multiple differ.

AltStreet's Omni Bridgeway review: 12 completed investments over A$20 million returned 1.54x; the rest 2.4x gross.

AltStreet's Legalist review: 250+ positions per fund, about half single-case and half portfolio.

Questions for a single-case position

What share of the fund or of your portfolio is this case?

What has to happen, in order, for the funder to be paid?

What is the downside if the case wins at trial and loses on appeal?

Does the return increase with time, or is it fixed?

Who is the defendant, and can it pay?

How investors apply the term

Investors usually apply this term by tying the definition back to the controlling documents and then asking which cash flows, rights, restrictions, or valuation assumptions it changes. A useful review looks at the term alongside fees, leverage, liquidity, reporting frequency, and manager discretion rather than treating it as a standalone concept.

The practical diligence test is simple: identify who benefits if the assumption is wrong, who has control when conditions change, and what evidence the investor receives after closing. Terms that cannot be reconciled to documents, cash movements, and monitoring data should be treated as marketing shorthand until proven otherwise.

Frequently asked questions

How risky is funding one lawsuit?: Very concentrated. A single case usually ends in a settlement, a judgment, or nothing, so the funder's return is close to binary, and the timing depends on one court's calendar. If a case with a 65% chance of a 3.0x outcome loses, the investment is gone; the expected value of 1.95x is never received by anyone who holds only that case.
How common is single-case funding?: Common, though portfolio deals have grown. Among three commercial funders GAO collected data from, portfolio agreements rose from about 19% of new agreements in 2017 to about 39% in 2021, so single-case deals were still the majority. Burford reported single-case capital provision assets of $819.5 million against $3,383.3 million in portfolio assets at December 31, 2025.
How large are single-case deals?: Usually millions. GAO found three commercial funders deployed about $2.3 million per single-case agreement on average from 2017 to 2021. Legalist, per AltStreet's review, funds cases from $50,000 to $5 million; Burford's guide sets a minimum of about $5 million needed by the client.
Can one case dominate a funder?: Yes. Burford's YPF-related assets, two claims arising from one dispute, were about 46% of the fair value of its capital provision assets at December 31, 2025. After the Second Circuit reversed the $16.1 billion judgment on March 27, 2026, their consolidated fair value fell to $145.9 million at September 30, 2026, and capital provision assets fell from $5.61 billion to $3.34 billion over nine months.
Do large single investments perform differently?: They can. Omni Bridgeway reports 2.4x gross on completed investments excluding the 12 over A$20 million, which returned 1.54x, per AltStreet's review. Including them, the company gives 2.3x. A track record that leaves out the largest cases can overstate what a concentrated position would have earned.
How can an investor get single-case exposure?: Mainly through platforms that offered case-by-case vehicles. LexShares sold 'indirect investments in legal claims offered through single purpose pooled investment funds,' per its site footer quoted in AltStreet's review, before entering harvest mode in August 2024. Most current access is through diversified funds or listed funders.